Infertile Woman Gives Birth After Experimental Treatment

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A 30-year-old woman in Japan who was thought to be infertile
recently gave birth to a healthy baby boy thanks to an
experimental fertility treatment, researchers report.

The woman had stopped having regular periods due to a condition
called primary ovarian insufficiency, in which the ovaries fail
to produce normal
amounts of estrogen and do not release eggs regularly.

The researchers removed an ovary, treated it outside the body,
and reimplanted it. The treatment stimulated the production of
follicles, which are structures that surround developing eggs.

Then, the researchers collected eggs from the woman, fertilized
them in a dish with her husband's sperm, and transplanted the
embryos into the woman. She gave birth after 37 weeks of
pregnancy.

However, the treatment will not work in all women with primary
ovarian insufficiency, and currently has a low success rate, the
researchers said. [ 5
Myths About Fertility Treatments ]

Only about half of the 27 women in the study (48 percent) were
candidates for the treatment, and just five out of 13 women who
received the therapy produced viable eggs. Just two became
pregnant (one has yet to give birth).

Although more work is needed, the researchers said they hope the
technique could help women with primary ovarian insufficiency and
other types of early menopause, such as menopause caused by
cancer treatment. The researchers, from Stanford University in
Palo Alto, Calif. and St. Marianna University School of Medicine
in Kawasaki, Japan, speculated that it will be several years
before the technique is used outside an experimental setting.

Women are born with all of the eggs they will use in their
lifetimes, but the eggs need to mature inside follicles.
Typically, one follicle matures each month, and releases an egg.

About 1 percent of women of reproductive age have primary ovarian
insufficiency. The cause is often unknown, although it can be due
to follicle damage. While women with this condition may
spontaneously become pregnant, egg
donation is usually the only way for them to have a child,
the researchers said.

Previously, the researchers showed that blocking a particular
cellular pathway, called the PTEN pathway, stimulated dormant
follicles in mice and human ovaries to produce eggs.

in the new study, the researchers employed a technique that has
been used in the past to simulate follicles.The technique, called
ovarian fragmentation, involves cutting the ovary into pieces.

The researchers found that when ovarian fragmentation was
combined with treatment to block the PTEN pathway, the two
treatments together activated more follicles than either
treatment alone.

After performing these two treatments on the ovary outside the
body, small pieces of the ovary are transplanted near the
fallopian tubes. Women also need to take drugs to help
stimulate the follicles.

One day, it may be possible to get the same results as ovarian
fragmentation by blocking a separate pathway, without the need to
cut the ovaries, said the researchers, who plan to study this.

The study is published this week in the journal Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences.